Wellness Unmasked Weekly Rundown: Why Are Breastfeeding Rates Declining in the U.S.?

Dr. Nicole Saphier pays tribute to the late Charlie Kirk, honoring his dedication to faith, family, and freedom. She uses their recent conversation as a springboard to address America’s declining breastfeeding rates, highlighting the health benefits for mothers and children. Dr. Saphier critiques inadequate workplace policies, cultural stigmas, and misleading formula marketing, urging for stronger support and normalization of breastfeeding. Wellness Unmasked is part of the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Podcast Network - new episodes debut every Tuesday & Friday.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome back to Wellness un Mass. I'm doctor Nicole Safire,
and before we begin this weekly rundown, I want to
pause and acknowledge a friend, Charlie Kirk, and his tragic
death this week. Charlie's legacy is not going to fade.
He leaves behind an entire generation ready to fight for faith, family, freedom,
and country, and his voice will continue to echo through

(00:23):
the young leaders he inspired, ensuring his work was not
in vain. Now, while most people knew him for his
conviction and passion for political work, I can tell you
off camera he was just as passionate. I saw Charlie
this last month when he was here in New York
City guest hosting for Fox and Friends. While we didn't
have any on camera conversations, I can tell you our

(00:45):
off camera conversation was incredible. He taught to me about breastfeeding. Now,
anybody who knows me knows that I love talking about
breastfeeding because I'm a huge supporter of it. I've had
three children, I breastfed all of them for a year.
I love breastfeeding and what it does for our children
and for our moms, and it makes me so sad

(01:05):
and concerned to see the declining breastfeeding rates. Charlie knows this,
and that's why he brought it to my attention. He
was in such awe and had such respect for his
wife and the natural ability that she had breastfeeding their
two young children, and he asked me about the declining rates,
and we started talking about things we can do. So
in his honor, I decided we are going to shed

(01:26):
light today on the issue of breastfeeding here in the
United States. So let's start with the reality. In the
United States, about eighty three percent of mothers start breastfeeding
once the baby is born, but by six months only
about half of them are still breastfeeding at all. By
one year, that number drops below thirty five percent. And

(01:47):
now compare that to many European nations, where over half
of babies are breastfed at one year. There's an obvious gap.
So why does this matter? Well, the science is clear.
For babies, breastfeeding reduces the risk of infections, sudden infant
death syndrome also known as SIDS, asthma, obesity, even type
two diabetes later in life. It strengthens their immune system.

(02:08):
It also promotes brain development. But breastfeeding is not just
for babies. For mother's breastfeeding lowers the risk of breast cancer,
ovarian cancer, type two diabetes, postpartum depression, and it also
helps them lose baby weight. It's one of the most
powerful natural preventative medicines we have, yet it's underutilized. So

(02:29):
the question becomes why do our rates lag and what
can we do to support mothers better. Some barriers are
obvious workplace policies that don't allow time or space to pomp,
hospitals that don't provide adequate lactational support, and cultural messages
that sometimes discourage breastfeeding. Altogether, you have the whole formula

(02:49):
industry that essentially puts out all of these ads that says,
you know, our formula is just as good as breast milk.
The reality is that's not true at all. Our JR
Is reformulating kind of how the FDA looks at formula.
It's not just about the contents of the breast milk.
There's so much more involved to breastfeeding. So here are

(03:11):
a few things that we can do. We have to
normalize it. Okay, whether it's at public, at work, or
at home, breastfeeding should not be considered taboo. It's nourishment.
It's not shameful. It's just a boob. Okay, get used
to it. It's fine. Moms also, when they go to work,
need private, clean spaces, reasonable break times to pump. They

(03:31):
should be standard, not the exceptions. Moms shouldn't feel guilty
because they take fifteen minutes to go pump milk for
their baby. Okay, whatever the work is, I'm pretty certain
it can wait fifteen minutes. Hospitals, when the moms are
having their babies, they can prioritize lactation consultation, skin to
skin contact right after birth, and rooming in practices. Pediatricians

(03:53):
should also be reinforcing these messages and connecting moms to resources.
Don't shame the moms about breastfeeding, but ask them what
the barriers are why they aren't able to breastfeed, see
if you can help them. And by the way, sometimes
the biggest help is a spouse, a grandparent, or a
friend just saying you're doing a good job. Keep going.

(04:13):
This emotional support matters just as much as logistical support.
Breastfeeding is hard, and anybody who says it's not, they're
lying or they forgot. Maybe they have PTSD because of
how hard it actually was. Breastfeeding is so hard, but
it's so good for the mom, It's so good for
the baby. Charlie and I both believe that if we
truly value children, we have to value the mothers, and

(04:36):
supporting breastfeeding is one of the simplest, most effective ways
to do just that. And as we remember Charlie this week,
I hope we also commit to caring forward some of
his messages, whether you heard about them online or breastfeeding,
something he probably didn't speak a lot about publicly but
was just as passionate about. Thanks for listening to Wellness

(04:58):
on Mass on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow
Wellness on Mass with doctor Nicole Safire and start listening
on the free iHeartRadio app wherever you get your podcasts,
and we will see you next time.